Abstract [en]

This study examined the effects of an eight-week-web-based mindfulness programdesigned for individuals with chronic pain. A sample of 107 participants with chronicpain (M¼51.0 years, SD¼9.3) were randomly assigned to a treatment group and acontrol group. The mindfulness program involved 20 minutes of training per day, sixdays a week, for eight weeks. During this period, the control group was invited to anonline discussion forum involving pain-related topics. A total of 77 participantscompleted the postintervention assessment (n¼36 in the treatment group, n¼41in the control group). The group assigned to mindfulness training showed increasedmindfulness skills (Cohen’s d¼1.18), reduced pain intensity (d¼0.47–0.82), reducedpain-related interference/suffering (d¼0.39–0.85), heightened pain acceptance(d¼0.66), reduced affective distress (d¼0.67), and higher ratings of life satisfaction(d¼0.54) following the training with no or minor changes up for the control group(d values 0.01–0.23), a pattern substantiated by significant group-by-time interactions.Despite limitations of this study, including a less than ideal control groupto isolate effects of mindfulness and lack of a long-term follow-up, the results appearpromising and may motivate further investigations.